Summary
Fondaparinux is a synthetic pentasaccharide that selectively inhibits factor Xa (FXa)
in an antithrombin-dependent fashion.This newly developed anticoagulant is used in
the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism. Recently, we showed that fondaparinux
reduces inflammation and protects the kidney from ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury.
However, the relative contributions of the anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory activities
of fondaparinux to the observed protection is unknown.To address this, we chemically
modified fondaparinux to abolish its affinity for antithrombin and analyzed the effect
of this non-anti- coagulant (NAC)-pentasaccharide on binding of U937 cells to P-selectin
in vitro and on inflammation in a murine model of kidney I/R injury. NAC-pentasaccharide was
as effective as fondaparinux at inhibiting the binding of U937 cells to P-selectin.In
addition, NAC-pentasaccharide significantly reduced IL-6 and MIP-2 expression and
injury in the kidney I/R model.These findings indicate that the anti-inflammatory
activity of fondaparinux can be dissociated from its anticoagulant activity and that
NACpentasaccharide is protective in kidney I/R injury.
Keywords
Anticoagulant - inflammation - animal model - ischemia-reperfusion injury